Because Jesus was raised from the dead, we’ve been given a brand-new life and have everything to live for, including a future in heaven — and the future starts now!
Eugene Peterson’s paraphrase of 1 Peter 1:3
Those who are begotten to a new and spiritual life are begotten to a new and spiritual hope. . . . The hope of eternal life in a true Christian is a hope that keeps him alive, quickens him, supports him, and conducts him to heaven. Hope invigorates and spirits up the soul to action, to patience, to fortitude, and perseverance to the end.
From Matthew Henry’s “Commentary on the Whole Bible”
Living Hope
God’s Word says, “In His great mercy, He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ” — 1 Peter 1:3
There was a time when
we put our hope in ourselves:
we had hope because
we had talent
or money
or connections
or big dreams . . .
. . . until
our hope in ourselves
lived out its days and died:
our talent didn’t take us
where we thought it would;
money dried up or was useless;
connections went sour or south;
big dreams became daily routine . . .
. . . and then
at the end of ourselves
we found in one King
living hope that cannot die:
without hope in our talent,
we trust in His power;
without hope in our money,
we store treasures in heaven;
without hope in connections,
we love one another;
without hope in big dreams,
we wake to eternity.
Devotional poem © 2016 Michael Himick. Used with permission.
New Birth into a Living Hope
God’s Word says, “In His great mercy, He has given us new birth into a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ” — 1 Peter 1:3
Grief Arrived at My Door
We’ve been looking at Romans 8:28, and seeing that in all things God works for the good of those who love Him. Here’s a devotional poem from Christ-follower Rena Himick seeing the same in the midst of grief. It’s called “Grief Arrived at My Door.”
Grief arrived at my door;
I had to let him in;
so long he stayed,
and would not leave,
in place of a husband.
Grief was guest at my meals,
at my early waking,
at my wakeful sleeping,
but he said not a word —
just an empty presence.
Grief was unmoved by me.
Yet Jesus too arrived;
I leapt to let Him in;
so long He stayed,
and would not leave,
in place of a husband.
Jesus, guest at my meals,
at my early waking,
at my wakeful sleeping,
the I Am and the Word —
infinitely Present.
Jesus moved in with grief and me.
Devotional poem © 2016 Rena Himick. Used with permission.
It is true that we endure trials, but it is just as true that we are delivered out of them.
Charles Spurgeon
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